Freaks of Nature rebrands as Over The Spoon

Free-from pudding brand, Freaks of Nature, has rebranded as Over The Spoon, a dairy-free dessert range. The new brand, designed by strategic branding agency Robot Food, aims to evolve the range from a free-from dessert alternative to a mainstream dairy-free proposition.

Originally launched in 2017 by Cardium Products Ltd as the UK’s only dedicated manufacturer of free-from puddings, Freaks of Nature was created in response to the growing opportunity in the plant-based and free-from space.

In the years since, plant-based has become increasingly mainstream, but under the label Freaks of Nature, the dessert brand found itself stuck in the minority free-from section of supermarkets, catering to specific dietary needs rather than a growing broader lifestyle.

The biggest challenge for the brand was acknowledging that it needed to re-invent itself to optimise its appeal to the fast changing consumer landscape, managing director of Over The Spoon, Tim Wild, explains.

“Along with a completely fresh brand identity, we have a whole new line-up of tastier products hitting the shelves. Our aim is to make the benefits of a next generation lifestyle accessible to everyone, without compromise,” he says.

“Plant-based works for sausages but seemed to jar with what people expect from a dessert. And when we looked at the growth in demand in the adjacent non-dairy milk category, it became clear to us that ‘dairy-free’ was a stronger starting point,” says Simon Forster, founder and creative director of Robot Food.

Over The Spoon aims to be a fresh, playful take on ‘dairy-free’ desserts that brings the previously niche pudding range out of the free-from category and into the mainstream as a credible and everyday treat.

The transformation of the brand from Freaks of Nature to Over The Spoon started with a complete overhaul of the brand positioning to attract the mainstream consumer. From the ‘dairy-free’ concept came the idea of freeing dairy. The playful line of thinking ultimately led the agency to create the new brand name ‘Over The Spoon’ and to craft the leading pack call-out: ‘Dairy Free-d.’

The new brand by Robot Food imagines what Daisy the cow might be doing once freed from being milked all day. Through cheerful colours, modern typography, and an up-beat tone of voice, Over The Spoon aims to invite consumers into a fun brand world with strong underlying cause-driven implications around sustainability and animal welfare.

Pastel colourways invoke classic cues from dairy-based treats – in this way, consumers don’t feel they’re missing out, even while the communication extols the clear benefits over dairy counterparts.

 “The brand is now what you want from an everyday treat,” Forster says. “It’s bright and fun, but also showcases appetising product photography, missing from the previous brand, so you know exactly what you’re getting.”